by Mike Hoban
‘True West’ – Written by Sam Shepard; Directed by Joe Short; Scenic Design by Jon Savage; Lighting Design by Marcella Barbeau; Costume Design, Miranda Kau Giurleo; Sound Design, David Reiffel. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company at 267 E. Main St., Gloucester through September 8
Some brothers work out their conflicts in therapy, others in a court of law, and still others bring their unresolved issues to the grave – sometimes courtesy of the hand of the other brother. Austin and Lee, the protagonists of Sam Shepard’s classic “True West”, have their own messy way of working things out, and Gloucester Stage provides us with a front row seat to the process, staging a superb version of the 1980 classic that is alternately comically charged and deeply unsettling.
Director Joe Short establishes a foreboding tone right from the get-go, dimly lighting the opening scene as crime-waiting-to-happen/older brother Lee (Nael Nacer) surprises Austin (Alexander Platt) with an unexpected visit to their mother’s home. It’s in an L.A. suburb on the edge of the desert, where Lee is house-sitting and working on a movie script, seeking quiet. The brothers haven’t seen each other in five years, but it doesn’t take long before the sibling rivalry starts to percolate and tension comes bubbling to the surface.
Like a freshman waiting to have the books knocked out of his hand by a bullying dim-witted senior, Austin meekly tries to placate his brother as Lee begins his not-so-subtle attack via a series of belittling, jealousy-driven jabs focusing on Austin’s success. But as Austin makes weak attempts to stand up to Lee, eventually offering him money to just go away, Lee unleashes his fury on his younger brother, shaking him violently by the shirt collar before letting him go. It’s a pretty scary moment, made even more disturbing only seconds later, when Lee casually engages his brother in a benign conversation about crickets – as if nothing had transpired.
Lee may be physically and psychologically intimidating, but he didn’t survive on the fringes of society for all those years without a healthy dose of manipulative charm, and what he lacks in education, he more than makes up for in criminal street smarts. We see those talents on display the next day when he somehow cons Saul, the film producer that has come to meet Austin into playing a round of golf and to discuss his cliché-ridden idea for a modern western. To Austin’s horror, Lee closes a deal with Saul, who – adding insult to injury – now wants him to write Lee’s script for him. Austin finally reaches his breaking point, and that’s when the fun really begins, as the play flips from a psychological study into a wild comedy as the brothers take a walk in the other’s shoes.
Director Short makes an assured professional directorial debut with this piece, and is ably assisted by his talented cast. Mark Cohen smartly keeps his Hollywood producer from becoming overly stereotypically sleazy, and his deadpan delivery when he tells Austin that he’s passing on his play – “nobody’s interested in love these days, Austin. Let’s face it,” is priceless. Marya Lowry brings the right degree of befuddlement and authority to her role as the mother coming home to her warring boys, but it’s Nacer and Platt in the leads that make this production work so well.
Platt beautifully captures Austin’s reality – that despite his superior intellect and outward trappings of success, he still seeks the approval of his older brother – even though Lee’s still a child-man and a societal outcast. And his transformation from a bit of nebbish to a guy willing to stand up for himself is fun to watch (even if his portrayal of a drunk could use a little more study time at last call in a dive bar). Nacer would appear to be playing against type in the role of the sociopathic Lee, but anyone who saw his brilliant performance in the vastly underappreciated production of Caryl Churchill’s A Number at the New Rep in 2015 won’t be surprised. He thoroughly inhabits the role, gunning down beer after beer without even a slight slowdown in intensity, and bullying his way through life looking for the next big score. Nacer is equally compelling when Lee begins to fall apart as realizes that there’s a lot more to what Austin does than just “thinking up shit”.
Jon Savage’s set is beautiful in its 70’s-styled suburban ordinariness, and the remainder of the creative team (Lighting Designer Marcella Barbeau, Costume Designer Miranda Kau Giurleo and Sound Designer David Reiffel) deserve kudos for creating a truly three-dimensional setting for the play.
Although often billed as a comedy, True West is pretty brutal in spots, but it’s also a kind of weird love story between the brothers. Playwright Shephard also gets in his shots about those who don’t think writing is “real work”, as well as poking fun at the crassness of Hollywood and its pursuit of profits over art. This a really solid production and well worth the drive up to Gloucester. For more information about Gloucester Stage, or to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.com
